GREATER NOIDA: Geospatial Conference 2016 being held in Greater Noida conferred awards on some big names from the Geospatial Industry under various categories. The awards and recognitions were given for exemplary innovations and practices in the Indian geospatial industry. Gen V.K. Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region presented the awards to the awardees on Thursday at the India Expo Mart in Greater Noida.

There were two categories of awards. The India Geospatial Excellence awards – based on independently judged nominations, submitted through an online process and the prestigious India Geospatial Leadership Awards – conferred upon Individuals, organizations and projects for their exemplary contribution to the Geospatial sciences, industry and fraternity.

Under the India Geospatial Leadership Awards, Dr. A S Kiran Kumar, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) received the India Geospatial Leadership Award 2015 for ‘Making a Difference’. In the other awardees under India Geospatial Leadership Awards category, Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geo-Informatics (BISAG), Gujarat was awarded for Capacity Development in Geospatial Technology and Applications.

The state of Rajasthan was awarded the Leading Geospatial state 2015 under the Premier Geospatial State. Under the same category, Rakesh Verma, Managing Director, Map My India was awarded as Geospatial Business Leader – 2015 and Maj Gen Dr R Siva Kumar (Retd) received the award for Lifetime Achievement.

Under the Geospatial Excellence category, Dholera Special Investment Region (DSIR), Gujarat and AECOM India Private Limited were awarded for Application of Geospatial Technology for urban planning and Smart cities.

The Indian Army was conferred the award for Integration of engineering support plan with GIS during armed operations. Punjab Remote Sensing Centre received the Application of Geospatial Technology in Governance award for their project ‘3G approach for Governance’ and National Dairy Development Board bagged the award for Internet Based Dairy Geographical Information System.

The awardees were decided by an independent Jury under the Chairmanship of Dr. Sailesh Naik, Former Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India joined by Bharti Sinha, Executive Director, AGI India and Lt Gen AKS Chandele (Retd), President, Defence Security and Public Safety, Geospatial Media as members.